Offshore wind generation costs could be reduced to £100 per megawatt-hour by 2020 if the industry adopts the alliance contractual approach now becoming standard in the utility sector, a government-appointed taskforce has concluded.
That is one of the key proposals of the 28 recommendations in the Offshore Wind Cost Reduction Task Force Report, whose findings have been welcomed by energy minister Charles Hendry and his counterparts in the devolved administrations.
The report also urged the creation of a new offshore wind programme board (OWPB). The organisation would comprise senior industry figures, representatives from the different government departments involved and statutory advisers on nature conservation.
The OWPB would treat the offshore wind sector as one single business and proactively consider the risks posed by regulation and industry practice. Its discussions would be private but its conclusions would be made public. It should be established by this autumn, the report recommended.
A quarter of the taskforce’s proposals centred on planning and consenting issues. These included a call for the government to implement changes in the way the European Union’s Habitats and Wild Birds Directive was implemented in the UK.
As well, the taskforce – set up in July 2011 – recommended the standardising of transmission and substation modules. Also proposed was the development of higher voltage HVDC polymeric cables to reduce the cost of 1GW and 2GW connections.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 15 June 2012.
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